SEMENYIH: A simple book donation handover to 90 orphans of Desa Amal
Jireh in Semenyih last night turned into a mock spelling contest when the
children learned that their guests were from the New Straits Times.

Delighted by the children's enthusiasm, the NSTP marketing staff
responded by organising an impromptu contest.

The orphans, ranging from 6 to 17 years, began by spelling words they
knew. Those who got the words right received NST file folders and
notebooks.

The children are now fired up for the June 14-15 Spell-It-Right (SIR)
challenge for Selangor schools, to be held at Subang Parade.

Several are hoping to be among the four contenders selected from their
respective schools to take part in the contest.

P. Yogeshwaran, IT and administration officer of Desa Amal Jireh, said
the students' enthusiasm for the spelling contest was sparked by the TV
commercial now airing on local channels.

"They started looking for harder words from the newspaper and began
challenging each other to spell them correctly."

The SIR challenge, jointly organised by NST and the RHB banking group,
is divided into two categories - primary and secondary.

It will also be conducted in two stages: the State Challenge and the
National Challenge.

The State Challenge is open to 36 schools from each state. Each school
can send a maximum of four representatives. Nine top spellers will
qualify for the state finals.

The state champions and runners-up in the primary school category will
bag RM1,000 and RM800 respectively, while the second runners-up will go
home with RM500.

The top three schools will be awarded a matching amount.
In the secondary category, state champions and runners-up will win
RM2,000 and RM1,500 respectively, while the second runners-up will get
RM1,000.

The top three schools will also receive the same amount.
The 14 state champions in each category will then compete in the
national finals, to be held at the National Museum auditorium in Kuala
Lumpur in August.

To take part, look out for entry forms in the NST from March 1.